


Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 10

by Zurrunba



Series: Cantera [10]
Category: Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation, Cantera, Fillia, Galactic Empire, Gen, M/M, Science Fiction, Yllul, galaxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26361352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurrunba/pseuds/Zurrunba
Summary: The Galactic Empire has fallen, with kings, tyrants, and other rulers scrambling to seize power in systems across the galaxy. One such ruler is the Tyrant of Fillia, who thirty years before had crushed a rebellion from the planet Cantera, leaving desolation in its wake. Now the people of Cantera just wish to get on with their lives, or so they say. When it comes to Cantera and its people, nothing can be taken for granted.The Fillian Empire has been invaded by its neighbor Yllul; while at the same time the rebel daughter of the spy Eileen has joined forces with the invaders in her pursuit of power. With chaos still looming on the Fillian home world, Hiero and Moira take a risk that could ruin everything that Hiero had been working out for Cantera over the past twenty years. But what choice did he have?
Series: Cantera [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605262





	Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 10

Captain Zurx fought back the panic as the Yllulian vessel barreled down on them. There was no way that all four of the scout ships would be able to escape a confrontation with this ship. These scout ships had minimal weapons, while this was a large war ship of an old design familiar to him and many others. This version may not be as powerful as the old Galactic Empire’s ships, but deadly nonetheless. If he had one of the new Canteran warships this one could be dealt with, but he didn’t.

Quickly he barked orders to his other three ships and they split off in different directions, making sure to steer away from where the other seven Yllulian warships would likely be coming. This one had to have been sent on this arc to evaluate who else would be traveling the system. Others must’ve been sent in other directions. It was doubtful that they expected to encounter much resistance as they worked to control the system, otherwise all their ships would’ve been concentrated more, and there would’ve been more of them. 

As Zurx worked to move his ships apart, the war vessel had decided to chase after his ship. The distraction worked. So long as one of the other Yllulian vessels didn’t come this way those three would escape. Strange that his ship was the one they’d decided to engage, but fate had chosen him. Swiftly he gave orders to move the ship toward one of the system’s gas giants. This one had twenty-eight natural satellites. It could be possible to get lost in the circuit of moons and dust orbiting the planet.

Unfortunately, the other vessel was too fast. Normally a ship like the one he was in could outmaneuver something as large as that warship, but the change in trajectory took more time to calculate than he’d hoped. Some glitch in the ship’s system not known until now. If they survived this, he’d have a few words with the maintenance crew responsible for keeping the old scout ships working. 

If they survived.

He’d chosen their original trajectory in order to avoid as many of the obstacles of the system as possible. The ship managed to get most of the way to the gas giant before being fired at by the Yllulian vessel. The shot missed, but it was followed by others. Working through several maneuvers of his own he tried to avoid the shots. This worked for a couple minutes, but eventually one of the shots hit, then another, and another. 

The ship’s systems were breaking down, causing the ship to slow. The engineer on board hurried over to see what could be done. The gesture was really pointless. The Yllulian ship would pound his into oblivion long before any kind of repair could be done to the hyperdrive. The next hit, which breached a section of the hull near the jets, was evidence of that.

A flash appeared off to one side of their view screen. Then another came from below. The blaster fire from the attacking ship ceased. At least the fire against his ship. A quick glance at their rear sensors showed that some kind of engagement had started that distracted the enemy. Had one of the scout ships come around to attack it. That was rash and foolish if that were the case. This ship was almost dead in the water. This kind of action wouldn’t allow Zurx to get away, and there was a good chance that scout ship could find itself in a similar situation.

Three more blasts from different directions hit the enemy ship. That gave him pause. That would imply that there were at least four vessels that had converged on the Yllulian. There had only been four scout ships. There had been no sign of any kind of war ships coming from Gondor or any other section the planet controlled. These ships had to be coming from outside the system. Sadly, he was unable to get a good look at the activity going on with his ship in the condition it was in. The only thing he could tell for certain was that some kind of battle was taking place between more than one vessel.

It was over in about ten minutes. 

Zurx sat there frozen, not daring to believe that it was over. It wasn’t until five ships converged on him, each bearing the emblem of the House of Tilliar, that he felt his anxiety wane. It wasn’t long before one of the ships hailed him. The one on the other end was someone he knew well. Grilan Noro, one of the queen’s major merchants. The queen had called on some of her family’s merchant vessels to come to his aid. 

“Captain, radio your other ships and tell them to follow our coordinates. The queen would rather not lose any of your scouting vessels if we can help it.”

Without hesitation he complied and then moved to the coordinates he was given. He’d have to thank Queen Moira and her father for risking these ships to save him and the others. Now he had to wonder what else Cantera had in store for them.  
_________________________

King Hiero of Cantera sat down in a room that he had spent very little time in over the past several months. It was a room that had originally been one where much of the work of the kingdom was conducted and documented. In the past some had even called it the throne room because when people were to come and petition him this is the room that it happened in. (One of those archaisms that really never quite died). He wouldn’t even be here today if it wasn’t for the problems that had all hit Cantera at once, requiring the combined assistance of all his counselors, aids, and assistants. As with the old tradition he sat in a chair at a desk somewhat higher than everyone else in the room. His wife Moira was sitting in a chair next to him. They were both decked out in full traditional royal regula, which he’d never really enjoyed, though Moira always liked to give off an impression. She was really taking to being queen again and letting everyone know it.

“Counselor Oris,” the king began. “How are things moving with the factories. Has the sabotage been stopped?”

The counselor in charge of manufacturing stared down at some data pads on the table he was sitting at. Then responded, “It looks like we’ve caught the last of them a couple days ago. Under questioning the man gave us a good deal of information. Apparently, there were three of them left who were waiting for some kind of orders. With Eileen removed from the seen they had been directed to do a few more jobs and then someone would come for them. They assure me that they’re the last; or at least the last ones they know of, but there hasn’t been any sabotage for a while.”

The king nodded. That was a good sign, but he wouldn’t take anything for granted. A little more security to secretly make its way through the different factories could calm down his nerves. He’d run that by Oris later.

“Counselor Tical, how have the current events affected our trade and food supplies?

“Your Grace, at present there has been no serious dent with our economy, though some of our trade routes are starting to falter. Our trade contact on Gondor has gone silent. That was a large, though not vital, source for our agricultural goods. With the chaos on Fillia some other contracts have been hit, as well as the border planets that have recently gone silent. These all put together really hurt us, but it’s not devastating. I’m waiting to see if another problem is on the horizon. 

“I won’t recommend doing nothing about this, of course,” Tical added. “I will be looking for other possible outlets for us to shift things, whether inside or outside the empire.”

“Anything promising?”

“I believe so; so long as Yllul doesn’t move too deeply into the border.”

“Well, that’s why half of our ships were sent to defend the border and to deal with Tonya. If we can take that woman by surprise one of our worst problems will be gone.”

No one there responded. There was really nothing to say. On to the next topic.

“What about the space junk orbiting our planet? How quickly are we getting it removed?” This space junk was residue from several decades before, during the failed Cantera revolt against Fillia. Relics of at least fifteen destroyed ships were scattered across the spectrum in orbit around the planet. Thankfully none of it was visible to the inhabitants of Cantera, which was likely why it had been ignored for so long. 

“We’ve taken care of some of it, your Grace,” Counselor Grij, in charge of security and military affairs, said. “It’ll take us a couple more months to remove it at the pace we dare take. We want to make sure that there aren’t any unpleasant surprises.”

“Surprises?” the king asked. “Like what?”

“Like bombs and other explosives moving around up there. We’ve already encountered two bombs that had to be part of some ship’s weapon arsenal. One of our scouts was badly damaged by it.”

The king nodded. 

“Have you noted any other activity in the Fillian worlds that we should be concerned with,” the queen asked. 

Glancing over at Moira, the counselor looked to be in deep thought. Why the man didn’t have an immediate answer to that was baffling. Maybe he wondered what the queen might already know with her own behind the scenes activities.

“Not much,” he replied. “You already know about the border fleet being engaged with that of Yllul and that Tonya’s ships have come to attack that fleet from another side. I’m not sure how long they can hold, especially against the newer kinds of ships Tonya stole from us. The other two fleets of the empire still haven’t moved, but with the chatter I’m hearing the Sargon Fleet is considering moving toward Fillia. They’ve been haling the three strange vessels in orbits there with strange responses.”

The three unidentified vessels was another unknown element that needed to be solved. Too many variables. The Sargon Fleet could easily dispatch three vessels, so long as they weren’t the kind that Tonya stole. Even then they wouldn’t hold out forever. The commander of that fleet was no fool when it came to fighting. 

“What kind of strange responses?” she asked.

“Some kind of strange language problems. We were only able to intercept a minute or so of communication. It made no sense to us, and to judge by fleet responses it didn’t make sense to them either.”

The queen looked on in confusion. “You mean it’s some unintelligible dialect of Galactic Standard?”

“No. It’s actually a different language altogether. Perhaps it’s some kind of coded message, but the didactics and structure indicate it’s most likely an actual different language altogether. It could be something that someone made up to talk secretly with his or her own circle, but I doubt it. There’s something else going on here that I can’t quite put my finger on. We’ll keep working on it.”

“Good, let us know what you can find,” was her final words. It was clear at this point that this issue was done with for now. 

The group continued discussing the different problems Cantera was facing. Everything that could be done had been set in motion. The discussion finally wrapped up ten minutes later before the royal couple left.

The two walked back to one of their more isolated rooms where they could change. Eight of their body guards remained outside while the king and queen changed out of their outfits to something more businesslike, in the traditional sense. Heiro had no idea how Moira felt, she always hid any discomfort really well; but he was glad to finally get out of that ridiculous outfit. When everything had been resolved with the empires, he’d have to start changing some of Cantera’s pointless traditions. Part of the reason they remained was to emphasize that there were differences between the cultures of Fillia and Cantera, but was that really so important?

The queen said something that he didn’t quite catch. His mind had been focused on the happenings around the planet Gondor. “What was that?” he asked.

“Language. What does he mean by another language? Nobody uses any other languages than Galactic Standard. He must mean some strange dialect.”

“No, he meant language,” the king responded. “Trust me, he knows the difference between language and dialect.”

“But what language could they possibly be using?”

As he sat on the bed he looked up at her as she got dressed for bed. He wasn’t sure if this was a serious question or just something for conversation.

“You’ve heard of Earth, I assume.”

“Of course. Every interplanetary trader worth a hill of beans has encountered stories of Earth with their work. Some places have a lot of Earth stories to tell if you wish to hear them.”

“And what did they say about languages on Earth?”

Moira stood there, clearly thinking to recall something. When this lasted over a minute, he began to wonder what it was that she was trying to recall.

“I’m not sure if I know the answer for sure,” she admitted. “There are some phrases I’ve come across here and there that clearly aren’t what they appear to mean, since the words themselves sound like gibberish, but had a clear meaning when we use them. Things like ‘ad hoc’, ‘et cetera’, and others are just a few. They clearly originated somewhere that we can’t understand today.”

Hiero nodded. He knew that there was more to it than what she was referring to here, but that wasn’t important. At this point he wasn’t going to get her to explain what the other notions were going through her head just now.

“Yes, those are indicators of other linguistic patterns. Some of the stories I’ve heard about Earth indicate that there were several languages that once existed on that planet where humanity is said to have originated. Besides the terms you’ve brought up, the names of some of the planets clearly have their own linguistic stories to tell. They’re not just made up names, they have their own origin stories. Some of those stories still exist on the planets themselves, if one knows where to look.”

“So, you think this language we’re hearing from those messages to the Sargon Fleet are in one of those dead languages for some reason?”

Dead languages. Yes, that was most likely the case, but one can’t help but wonder.

“That’s my assumption, yes. For some reason these ships are using one of those languages.”

Shrugging, Moira slipped her night gown on the rest of the way before climbing into bed leaning up against him. This was a sign that she expected him to wrap his arms around her, so he obliged. The feel of her pressed up against him like this caused his thoughts to scatter for a minute or so before his mental faculties took over again. If he didn’t know better, he might think she was trying to get him to forget about everything they’d just been discussing. 

“How did things go with the scouts at Gondor?” he asked.

“Hmm,” she began, like someone on the brink of sleep.

He wasn’t buying it. It sounded too rehearsed. “I know you heard me. How are Captain Zurx and his companions? I assume your trade vessels got there in time.”

She glanced up at him. “Yes, except for Zurx’s scout vessel they came through unscathed. Two of Yllul’s warships were engaged and destroyed in the rescue effort. They quickly got everyone out of there except for one of the Tilliar trade ships that stayed to observe what was about to happen.

“Now can we get some sleep. I want to be up early tomorrow before that meeting you arranged with the fleet commanders.”

She couldn’t completely hide her irritation; something he hadn’t expected. Everything with her had always been done smooth and free sounding when they talked alone here. Was she not feeling well? He decided to let it slide for now and just laid there with her till she went to sleep. If anymore of these slips happened, he might have to sneak a blood sample from her and see if she was sick with something she didn’t want him to know about.  
_____________________________

Tempus, the unofficial representative of the Foundation to the planet Cantera, stared in surprise as Queen Moira walked into the drinking house that he’d decided to spend the day in. She was dressed in what might be called a plain bland outfit that any woman might wear when taking a stroll through the city. The way she did her hair and wore the hood over her head (ostensibly to hold back the weather) one might not recognize her at all, but Tempus would recognize her face anywhere. The others in the establishment didn’t seem to take notice.

“Pleasant day we’re having, isn’t it?” she opened as she sat down at the bar he was drinking at.

“Yes indeed,” he replied, unsure what else to say. Normally he’d know how to handle such a meeting as they were usually planned well in advance. Something important had to have happened or she wouldn’t have arrived without contacting him first. Of course, all prior business meetings between them had happened with her being a high-ranking member of the Tilliar merchant house, not as queen of Cantera. “Is there something I can do for you?”

Nodding her head to the side, she indicated that they should get a table in another part of the place. She reached out gently with the tips of her fingers to grip his hand and led him over to a place on the far side of the room. This was the most ridiculous thing he could imagine Moira doing. She had to know how this looked. He hadn’t been above paying for a woman’s company for the night, but this was the Queen of Cantera! If anyone recognized her this would be the biggest scandal on the planet for decades, even if this were just some calculated ruse for them to talk alone.

Going through the motions of sitting her down at the table he made sure to take a seat so that Moira’s back was to the crowd. Best to keep her face away from where any eyes could identify her. 

“So, my lady, what brings you to my tavern?”

Moira didn’t immediately respond. She was glancing around her, gauging the dangers, apparently. The whole time her outward appearance to any in the tavern was of a woman relaxed, waiting for her mark to make a proposition. Raising her right hand, she lifted two fingers before putting them down at the table. 

Dumbfounded, due to what this gesture tended to mean in the negotiation process, he didn’t immediately notice the small piece of paper that had slid out from under her sleeve and onto the table. The conversations going on all around with the other noises would’ve drowned out anything they said as it relates to their discussion; so, it mattered little whether they spoke or not. Snatching up the note he glanced down at the note and read.

“Message to Terminus, achron,” was all that was written on it, but the meaning was clear. When speaking of ‘achron’ merchants generally want to discretely contact the politicians of a certain place; in this case it would be leaders on Terminus.

Moira was staring at him when he looked back up. Not sure what else to do he nodded. What else should he do? Anyone watching from a distance would assume they’d come to some agreement. Before he could decide what the next step should be, Moira stood up and held out her hand. Taking it, he came to his feet.

Leaning in she whispered in his ear, “Lead me out of here and call this transport number.” She drew the shape of five numbers on his palm. He didn’t recognize that number, but that really didn’t matter. He followed her instructions and led her out of the tavern with their arms intertwined. When they came to the tramway he activated his com link and pushed in the numbers he was given. A transport that looked like any other private vehicle came and opened its doors. The two stepped in.

After the doors were closed and the two sat on opposite ends of the transport, Moira removed the hood and hair pieces that had hidden her appearance. The pale complexion on her face then slowly darkened to its normal color. 

“Who are you wanting to contact, your Grace, and why didn’t you contact me in a more normal fashion?”

Moira smiled, clearly enjoying the discomfort she’d brought on him. 

“That’s somewhat complicated, as I understand things might’ve changed since the last time I was speaking with Foundation leaders. I believe the mayor of Terminus is probably the wrong person to reach out to, so perhaps someone with close merchant ties, whether family connected or otherwise, on the edge of Foundation authority.”

“That kind of connection on the fringe of Foundation authority isn’t common. I can only think of a couple that can fit the bill.”

“There are five, if I’m not mistaken,” the queen responded. “I’m just not sure which one to try. The Tilliar influence can only accomplish so much.”

Five? Tempus thought it over and then realized she was right. The notion of her not keeping up with current affairs had to be an exaggeration, since the fifth family had only achieved that status in the last year. 

“And what’s the message you want to send?”

“A proposal,” she replied, handing over a data pad that was full of a lot of information that he couldn’t quite fathom; but the main screen was unmistakable. 

“Do you realize what this means, your Grace?” he asked. “Can you really do this?”

“Of course, I can,” was the reply. “Nobody’s going to stop me.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” he responded. “Your standing in the kingdom, and the groups involved with you; you can’t do this and not change the scope of everything.”

Looking him in the eye, she pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to him. Looking at it he saw that it was a Tilliar seal, to verify the queen and her familiar’s accepting Tempus as her official emissary. This was highly irregular considering what his station was. 

“Do it. I’ll deal with the consequences if there’s any backlash.” Leaning back, her smile returned. “Besides, it may just happen that none of the council’s families will want anything to do with it. And you won’t even have to leave the planet to do it.”

The transport stopped back outside the tavern he’d just been at. The point was clear. Their conversation was over. Getting to his feet, he stepped out the door.

“Oh, one more thing,” the queen said in a low voice. Tempus sat back in the seat, wondering what the queen was about to say.

“Your ‘Seldon Plan’, as you call it, hasn’t made any predictions on the happenings in this part of the galaxy, I assume.”

Surprised, he replied. “You should understand that my knowledge of that is minimal. What I know for certain is that the Foundation shall succeed in the end; just how I cannot say. How psychohistory works I few people know.”

The queen nodded and then dismissed the Foundation official. Tempus stepped down and hurried away from the transport as it headed off toward an area opposite to that where the palace was. Which made sense. Going straight to the palace would raise a few eyebrows after the way he’d been ‘propositioned.’

Holding back a shudder, he worked to get as much distance as possible between him and the queen’s carriage. Again what she was asking went through his head. Little of it made sense. Making contact with people on Terminus to make some kind of merchant connections under the Tillier seal couldn’t help her cause with Fillia or Yllul, from what he could see. Perhaps what she had in mind dealt with some family business problem, but that didn’t make sense either. She could’ve directly arranged that without anyone’s eyebrows being raised. Somehow this would help with some problem and required her to work discretely.

After a moment’s reflection he decided to head for another one of his hangouts. One where nobody would likely look for him. (Unless it was someone like the queen). Shuddering again, he hurried off to think things through before doing as the queen asked.  
_____________________________________

The ships were taken completely by surprise, but was it too late? The Border Fleet was fighting for its life. So many of them had either been destroyed or knocked out of action, while others were still able to do some resistance, but were damaged so badly that very little fighting was possible. The area was covered with ships from both Yllul and ships stolen from Cantera by the king’s niece Tonya; who’d made a devil’s bargain with Yllul in order for her to ascend the Canteran throne. 

Commander Urkish immediately formed his ships and directed all their fire against Tonya’s ships. The king’s orders had been clear.

Do not stop until every one of her ships is eliminated. I want nothing of them to remain. Tonya must die. I want there to be no chance that that schemer can do anything else. Her and her mother have already done so much that our survival is jeopardized. 

Urkish agreed. It was impossible to know for certain which of those ships Tonya had decided to place herself in. Likely she’d moved to a different ship than she’d been in fleeing the planet Almior when the queen and Counselor Grij’s agents had been closing in on her.

Three of Tonya’s ships had been engaged and then destroyed before making any evasive maneuvers to deal with the new threat. Her ships faltered and stopped, unsure which direction to turn. They had the Border Fleet on the ropes, but this new threat was more serious. All things considered, the Yllulians could finish off what was left. Tonya’s ships turned around to deal with the Canteran ships, but not before another ship exploded. 

Things were looking good as far as the rebels went, but Urkish knew that most of these remaining ships wouldn’t be easy to take out. His orders were to destroy them all. If they all remained in frontal attack they would be overwhelmed, after he lost a couple of his own; but he’d be surprised if Tonya stayed around when it was clear she’d lost. She could do a hyper jump to some other system and start the chase all over again. He had to seal them off, and he had to somehow help the Border Fleet keep something of itself intact. 

The admiral’s ship was in bad shape, but somehow still up and shooting. Hesitating a moment, Urkish sent a message to the admiral. This was risky, as the two of them knew each other, fighting on opposite sides during the Canteran revolt thirty years before. Perhaps the admiral wouldn’t recognize him. But that hope was dashed the moment the admiral laid eyes on him through the communicator. His eyes narrowed.

“Admiral, how may we assist you?” the commander said before any angry or derisive remarks could come the commander’s way. The admiral stared back with suspicion, but didn’t immediately making any comments. Urkish continued, “Sorry that we didn’t catch Tonya’s treachery in time before this happened.”

“Tonya?” the admiral asked with a thoughtful look on his face. Then he added, “The king’s niece?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. She’s been assembling ships and naval soldiers over the past several years without us realizing it. Now she’s using Yllul to help her ascend the throne of Cantera.”

The two of them stared at each other for a time. The Border Fleet commander looked conflicted as to what to believe. Then he made a decision, likely due to the fact that any help was better than sitting there being destroyed by this Canteran rebel, as she was called. A couple quick suggestions were followed by a change in the position of the Border Fleet. 

Three Canteran vessels moved in below one of the Yllulian fleet’s flanks and opened fire. With quick work this disrupted their maneuvers long enough for part of the Border Fleet to adjust itself and move to cut off any escape Tonya may try to make. Since her ships all faced the Canteran Fleet, this position wasn’t immediately noticed. Urkish then moved his ships to strike at the stronger of the vessels. He knew that Tonya had to be on board one of those three larger ships. She’d always be in the strongest defensive position.

Tonya’s ships started to move around to deal with the Canterans, losing two of their smaller ships in the process. Then one of the large ones. There were now five left, each of them being hit hard from Urkish’s ships. But then one Canteran ship was put out of action before being destroyed. Another was severely damaged and had to pull back. The commander pushed them harder to strike right at the two remaining large ships. Among the other three, one was cut off and destroyed by two ships of the Border Fleet, then another taken down by two ships who’d been sent to the left flank. Before long, there were two rebel ships left. They turned and attempted to flee, then were intercepted by the admiral’s ships. 

This fight lasted longer than Urkish wanted, but finally those two ships were taken out and destroyed. None of Tonya’s ships remained, but the same couldn’t be said for those of Yllul. With some quick words the admiral agreed it was best to pull back to Fillia. Fillia, where civil war still raged.

Five Canteran ships struck at the largest of the Yllulian vessel. If their tradition remained the same as it had in the past, this was where the commander of the fleet would be located. This move caused many of the enemy fleet to pull back to assist the main vessel, making it possible for the Border Fleet and Canterans to withdraw. Retreating from the battle, eight ships of the Border fleet remained, and sixteen of the Canterans. Terrible losses, but far worse for the Border fleet. Over half the ships of Yllul were either out of commission or destroyed. For some that would be good news, but to Commander Urkish he knew that this had only been the first wave. What would the next wave look like?

Perhaps the biggest question that would come concerned the three ships orbiting Fillia when they arrived. Commander Urkish had known they would be there, but wasn’t expecting their strange designs, like something out of an ancient film. Before he could try to hail them the three ships turned and shot out of the system in the opposite direction. That mystery would have to stand for now. There was too much to do to prepare for what came next from Yllul.  
__________________________________

Seven days after the battle at the border, the ships making up Moira’s scouting expedition to Gondor returned; one being badly banged up, as Moira said. If not for the Tilliar trade vessels that were sent there none of them would’ve returned. What the Yllulians wanted in Gondor was still anyone’s guess. That would be the next thing to be determined. With the Yllulians invading Fillia, it was likely there would have to be a major battle to remove them from Gondor. (Provided they could hold it in the first place. With the organization there it could be impossible to subdue).

What concerned the king even more was the battle fought on the Yllulian border. The Canteran vessels and what remained of the border fleet were in orbit around the Fillian home world. The commander of the Sargon Fleet finally decided to move his ships toward Fillia. They would be in orbit later that day. What would Admiral Gyllor do when he brought his ships to the Fillian system? Certainly, he wouldn’t attack the Canteran ships. Cantera was part of the empire, even if memories of the revolt remained in people’s memories. But no, Gyllor wouldn’t be foolish enough to start something like this when an enemy fleet had crossed the border and attacked.

The fleet had crossed the border, but after the battle the Yllulians had stopped. After such a victory, costly as it was, should’ve made them move in to seize control of the nearest systems; but for some reason they hadn’t. What was he missing? 

Getting to his feet Hiero paced the room. He’d always prided himself on keeping calm under intense circumstances, but just now there was too much. Only one good thing had come out of all these events. Tonya Theor was dead. He made sure that had been confirmed. But his nephew Lorn had escaped. Somehow someone managed to get into his cell and snatch him off the planet. That had been one of the most secure prisons on the planet. Once against someone had gotten in without others realizing it. Instead of being given an implement to kill himself, which was what happened with Tonya’s mother Eileen, someone actually broke in, stunned four guards, and snuck him out. That meant there were still spies under his nose on this planet.

The question here was what they would do with Lorn. The king believed his nephew when he was told that he had no ambitions to seize Cantera’s throne. But it wouldn’t be the first time that someone with ambition had grabbed some royal pupped to use to gain power. Sadly, Moira would likely be the one to best handle this, like the other jobs she’d done. He didn’t like the number of jobs that kept being dished off to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, exactly, but he didn’t like giving up so much control over the jobs that needed doing. 

And what of the border? What should be done about it? Fillia had no clear leader, unless one considers General Firon. The main problem with him was that nobody knew much about him, and Hiero had no way of contacting him with one of the other factions in control of communications. Perhaps the next crazy thing to consider would be him tipping the scales somewhere on the home world. The home world Cantera had been planning so long to be free of. He wouldn’t be surprised if Moira had already considered that options by now.  
____________________________________

Nothing had made sense since the stranger with the psychic probe had walked into his cell and dragged him out, past several unconscious guards. He’d feared that the probe would be used on him too, but it never happened. Lorn had tried to talk with this man several times in their escape, but he kept being shushed until they’d reached some strange ship that was docked at the palace hangar. For some reason the hangar was unpopulated when they came through. 

“Where are we going?” he asked again, glancing around the ship as they entered. This was an older design than he’d seen before. In fact, it was much older than anything he’d seen on Cantera except in a museum.

“Let us get out of the system before worrying about where we might go afterward,” was the stranger’s reply. “What’s going on is a little complicated, and I wouldn’t be the best one to ask.”

He let that sit for a moment. That may all make sense to the stranger, but it didn’t ease his nerves.

“Tonya sent you to get me?” Something about this wasn’t right.

“No, I’m afraid not,” he admitted. “I told you that to get you out without too much resistance. That one is a bit too busy and preoccupied with things to be able to get you out of the prison and off the planet. Her circle of friends on Cantera have almost completely been eradicated.”

Lorn remained silent then while the ship slowly lifted from its perch, and then shot out of the atmosphere under intense speed. Being an older ship, this was turning out to be a lot bumpier than the other ships he’d been in. The ship seemed to bounce from one place to another as it moved its way out of the solar system. It took far too long for them to finally reach the spot where the first jump occurred. Why it took this long was unclear. Before he could ask anything the ship jumped.

His stomach lurched at the first sign, almost bringing his last meal to the surface. What kind of ship caused this reaction when jumping, and why had it taken so long to get into that position? That question couldn’t be answered just then. If he hadn’t such a horrible feeling of nausea, he might’ve noticed the three other old ships form up around them. For the next ten days he would be jumped from one system to the next without any kind of coherent path. Maybe the king had created some new way to torture him for allowing his wife to run amok.

The truth would turn out to be something much stranger.

Here ends Part 10 of Cantera: A Foundation Story


End file.
